inspiration

Sometimes You Just Gotta Listen To That Voice Inside You

/ Stuart Danker / 75 Comments
Many walking across a line of fiery coals

Photo: Joshua Newton

I’M GOING TO START THIS STORY OFF WITH A BANG. ALL CAPS BABY. WHOOOO!

How did that sound in your head? Did it feel like I was shouting at you?

How about now? More reasonable? Good. You’re probably wondering what this is all about. I promise I’ll get to that in a bit.

But first, let me pose you this question. Have you ever had a calling? Or has your conscience ever spoken to you? Maybe gave you a couple pointers that seemed outlandish at first, but started making sense after a week?

Continue reading →

That Time I Tried To Be A Pickup Artist

/ Stuart Danker / 54 Comments
Banana with lipstick stains all over it

Photo: Deon Black

“Hey, any idea what’s cool to do around here?”

The woman I’d just spoken to held her book closer to her chest, sidestepping away like a crab. No reply, no smile. In fact, she scrunched her face as if I smelled like goat droppings.

I still cringe at the memory of me talking up to random girls in the shopping mall, just because I’d gotten a copy of The Game during my young adulthood, and I thought it that it would be the key to my relationship problems.

Spoiler alert: it wasn’t.

Continue reading →

Working From Home Ain’t As Cool As It Seemed, Huh?

/ Stuart Danker / 55 Comments
Woman with notebook and laptop on her bed

Photo: Jodie Cook

You know I used to idolise the freelance life. I wanted the remote lifestyle, my own hours, and the freedom from fluorescent-bathed cubicles.

And I would get a taste of the digital nomad lifestyle, but me being me, I would also get bored of it real quick.

Back then, I used to whine to anyone who’d listen, and seeing as to how my friends were way more responsible than me, my complaints often fell on deaf ears.

“What’s the problem?” a friend once said. “At least you get to stay home.”

“Yeah,” I’d tell them, “but I work just as hard at ho—”

“And you don’t need to spend time and money on your commute. You lucky guy, you.”

“That’s a solid point for sure, but—”

“It must be great to schedule your own time. If I were you, I’d spend my days working at cafes.”

“But work is work—”

“You’re so lucky.”

“Right.”

Continue reading →

Discover Your Story (Painlessly) With This Writing Technique

/ Stuart Danker / 58 Comments
A woman writing on post-its with a marker

Photo: Magnet Me

You know the ‘write a shitty first draft’ advice? It’s actually connected to a host of other practices—do your morning pages, keep a journal, use the Pomodoro technique—and today we’re going to explore another related technique.

I’m sure this technique already exists with a different name, but for the sake of this post, I’ll christen it the Hunter Gatherer Method™, because that’s what you’ll essentially be doing, and that’s going out into the literary savannahs and bringing back the food that is your writing ideas.

Continue reading →

Sometimes You Just Gotta Sit With Your Pain

/ Stuart Danker / 83 Comments
Man looking

Photo: Jonathan Rados

One step forward, three steps backwards. Sometimes that’s just how life be like.

I eat healthy. I exercise. I’ve found a full-time job. I seem to have everything I need. Yet something just seems wrong.

I keep looking back to see if there’s a particular event I can put the blame on, but this dark cloud hovering over my head seems to have followed me for as long as I can remember.

We all grow out of things like these, don’t we? Isn’t angst supposed to be like asthma? Something debilitating at the moment that you forget once enough time passes?

Continue reading →